1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of seat belt restraining systems, and more specifically, to a device that is useful to grip a web belt of a three point belt restraining system in response to a load being applied to the web belt.
2. Background Art
A standard three point belt system includes a retractor, and a web belt having one end that is attached to and wound around a shaft of the retractor, and another end that is attached to a component of a vehicle, e.g. a seat, a floor, etc. The retractor and the web belt are designed to decelerate the forward acceleration of a restrained occupant in an attempt to impede any forward displacement of the restrained occupant. However, as a load is applied to the web belt by a forwardly accelerating restrained occupant, the retractor shaft will lock and a portion of the web belt will spool off of the locked retractor shaft. Concurrently, the web belt will begin to stretch over a substantial portion of its length. Presently, three point belt systems may further comprise or the retractor may further include a clamping device to reduce the amount of web spooling and/or web stretch in response to a load being applied to the web belt. Such clamping devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,401,281; U.S. Pat. No. 4,422,593; U.S. Pat. No. 4,437,623; U.S. Pat. No. 4,451,062; U.S. Pat. No. 4,491,343; U.S. Pat. No. 4,544,112; U.S. Pat. No. 4,615,540; U.S. Pat. No. 4,624,422; U.S. Pat. No. 4,635,873; U.S. Pat. No. 4,682,791; U.S. Pat. No. 4,687,253; U.S. Pat. No. 4,928,902; U.S. Pat. No. 5,029,769; U.S. Pat. No. 5,044,575; UK Patent No. 2 085 709; and UK Patent No. 2 167 643. While such prior clamping devices are an improvement over a standard three point belt system, there is still a need to further reduce the amount of web spooling and the amount of web stretch when a load is being applied to a web belt.